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Ellis Paul Honors Roy Orbison in 75th Birthday Tribute!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ellis Paul was honored to film a very special video (see link below) in the Roy Orbison studio in Nashville recently to part of a worldwide video tribute that Roy Orbison's crew are putting together to commemorate what would have been Roy's 75th birthday on April 23, 2011. Ellis will join a (still unreleased) list of highly acclaimed musicians participating in the video tribute. Please visit Roy's website for additional details as they are announced.

Mar 17 2011 - Ellis Paul March 2011 Newsletter

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Dear Ellis Paul friends:

Lots of new news here... I"ll make it quick.

Last week, Ellis went to Nashville to meet with the folks who run Roy Orbison's Publishing company. Roy's upcoming 75th birthday is April 23rd and, to honor Roy, the team is preparing a worldwide video tribute which they've asked Ellis to be a part of. Last weekend they filmed Ellis singing Roy's song 'Crying'. Besides Ellis, they've reached out to dozens of huge artists that are Roy fans about sending in a video tribute to Roy, which they will pull together in the video montage. Ellis' cover of Roy's song, 'Crying', is planned to be the audio track for the video montage which will potentially be seen in Hard Rock Cafés worldwide. The video will also be put up on Roy's Facebook (over 150,000 fans), as well as his main site.

As many of you know (WE HOPE), Ellis had nine songs in the Farrelly Brothers’ latest blockbuster release, ‘Hall Pass’. Thanks in no small part to the help of all the EP fans who took to theaters around the world, ‘Hall Pass’ has reached #1 at the box office on it's opening week! The Boston Herald did a piece on Ellis and his role in the film process last week after interviewing Tom Wolfe, the Farrelly Brothers’ music supervisor. “We think of Ellis anytime we have a new film,” said Tom. More quotes and the full article can be read in its entirety by clicking here.

Here’s some more news you DON’T know yet:

Club Passim in July!

This summer, Ellis will return to Passim the historic club in Cambridge, Ma.'s Harvard Square, to perform his very special, annual summer series... with a songwriting workshop to boot! The dates to circle on your calendar are July 8th & 9th for the shows and July 10th for the workshop. Check back soon on EP’s site for more surprise details.

Ellis Paul is heading back across the pond!

After many long years away, Ellis is excited to announce to his UK fans that he will be performing a series of shows in England in July. There’s been some good natured clamoring for some time now about a lack of Mr. Paul in your midst, so he's on his way... we hope you’ll come out in support! Along for the ride will be Ellis’ friend, Philadelphia songstress Lizanne Knott, a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter who has been writing some of the finest Roots-Americana music to come out of the City of Brotherly Love, and is one of the BBC DJ Bob Harris' most respected singer-songwriters. Keep an eye on Ellis’ tour page for more details about his trip, and where you can catch EP when he heads across the pond.

We leave you with this month’s winning Fan Story and a gem from the Archives (a cover song, no less!).

Happy Spring!

-Ellis Paul Team: Ralph, Justine, Karen, Matt and Jake

Fan Story of the Month

An Ellis Paul fan who prefers to remain anonymous shares her inspiring story.

My six-year old grandson Jared, although very bright, has autistic spectrum disorder and also ADHD……which means he can be quite a handful at times and has difficulty paying attention. Jared has a history of getting loud, wandering away then not listening when called, and suffers from occasional "meltdowns”.

When Jared was almost three, we discovered that Ellis Paul would be on tour in our area and that he would have a special show in the afternoon for children. Getting Jared to know and like Ellis’ music became my mission. Every time Jared came to visit we would listen to the songs and sing the choruses – usually with him on my lap or running around the room laughing. I started telling him we were going to the “dragonfly races” and he seemed to like the idea. My husband said he would go too, and we both knew there was a good chance we’d have to leave early if Jared got out of control.

At the show we were close to Ellis, who sat on a stool with his guitar in the center of the room. Jared sat on Grandpa's lap and was an angel! Ellis said the children could come up closer and wave their arms pretending to be in the dragonfly race. Some of the other children started running around and wouldn't stop, just like we thought might happen to Jared. At one point, when Ellis was singing "I Like to Swing," Jared closed his eyes, threw back his head, and sang and sang. It was so precious. We stayed for the entire concert and Jared was the best-behaved child there! We bought him a CD of his very own and – three years later - he still plays it and sings along.

Jared attended his second Ellis Paul concert last month. This time he was excited to go, and we let him sit in his own chair. Once again he was extremely well-behaved as he listened and participated. Thank you, Ellis, for writing songs that children connect with in such meaningful ways!

A Grateful Grandma,
Anytown, USA

[For having her fan story selected, this EP fan will be a guest of Ellis at an upcoming show of her choice. To have your fan story considered for a forthcoming newsletter, please submit it to Karen Zundel at kmzundel@comcast.net …and PLEASE put Ellis Paul Fan Story as the subject line. Thank you!]

From the Archive

[A note from Fan Ambassador Karen Z]

An Ellis Paul fan recently contacted me inquiring about a recording of Ellis' cover of "I Can't Make You Love Me". After digging through the Archive and finding this gem, I thought other fans might enjoy hearing it too.